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Joe Takagi
Joseph "Joe" Yoshinobu Takagi was the President of Nakatomi Trading and appeared in the 1988 film Die Hard. Takagi was initiating operations of the Nakatomi Corporation in Los Angeles when a group of terrorists seized the building to steal millions in bearer bonds. He was later shot in the head by the leader of the group, Hans Gruber, when he refused to give them the code for one of the vault locks. Early Life Joseph Takagi was born in Kyoto, Japan on 1937. His family emigrated to San Pedro, California in 1939. During World War II, Takagi was interned at Manzanar from 1942 to 1943. Still, he earned a scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley, enrolling in 1955. He also earned a law degree from Stanford in 1962 and an MBA from Harvard in 1970. Eventually, Takagi became President of Nakatomi Trading and Vice Chairman of the Nakatomi Investment Group. Takagi was married and had five children. Die Hard Takagi hosted a Christmas party for the Corporation's employees at the newly constructed Nakatomi Plaza on Christmas Eve in 1988. The festivities were abruptly halted by the arrival of Hans Gruber and his group of terrorists, who had seized the building in a bid to steal millions of dollars in bearer bonds. After singling out Takagi from the group, Gruber took the man away from the others and began interrogating him for information about the building's vault. Takagi was shot in the head by Hans after bravely refusing to give him the code for one of the vault locks. His death, along with that of Harry Ellis, is later avenged by John McClane after Hans fell to his death from the 30th floor of the Nakatomi skyscraper. Personality In the short time he was shown, Takagi was shown to be a kind jovial boss, who appreciates the hard work of his employees and commends them every chance he gets. In the case of Holly, he has no problem boasting about her skills on the field. He's also very accomodating to his employees, as seen on that fateful night. Hosting Christmas Parties on the plaza and even inviting their families as shown when he personally rented the Limo that brought John McClane to Nakatomi Plaza. Despite being Interned, Takagi has shown to have a sense of humor regarding Japan's history in WWII. Jokingly claiming that since Pearl Harbor didn't work out, they got America with Tape Decks. There were only a few times when Takagi showed slight anger. The first when he catches Ellis snorting Cocaine in Holly's office, where he gives a glare to him and the second when Hans cites his history in an effort to single him out. Hoping cooperation would protect his employees. However he's also shown to be defiant when he realizes Hans's true motives, goading Hans to kill him when he demands the code to the Vault. His personality doesn't go unnoticed as Holly tries to protect him from Hans and John regrets not being able to stop Hans from killing Takagi, knowing full well that would have killed them both. Gallery Takagi_talks_to_Hans.PNG|Takagi reveals to Hans Gruber that he is the one he is looking for. PDVD_038.PNG|Takagi moments before being executed by Hans Gruber. Category:Characters Category:Die Hard characters Category:Deceased Characters Category:Allies Category:Males Category:Japanese Category:1988 deaths Category:Killed by villain Category:Nakatomi Employees